MacRumors

Last week, French site Mac4Ever briefly noted among other topics that Apple is reportedly working on a new touch-sensitive mouse capable of "complex movements" from its touch surface. A new report today from AppleInsider offers additional claims of a new mouse in the works, possibly to debut in the very near future alongside revamped iMacs.

Building on a patent application addressing multi-touch mouse technology filed in March 2006, the new mouse is rumored to lack a roller ball for scrolling purposes and instead incorporate touch sensitivity for such actions while also offering a responsive scrolling system similar to that seen in the iPhone OS.

Given Apple's patented "inertia feedback" used on the iPod and iPhone, where item lists bounce when reaching the top or bottom and scrolling speeds accelerate in response to how the user touches the surface, the next Apple mouse is similarly expected to wed new hardware with sophisticated software to deliver an intuitive new feel in scroll navigation.

Should the new mouse arrive alongside revamped iMacs, its also likely to drop the white plastic finish it formerly used to match previous Mac models, possibly adopting an aluminum appearance to fit in with Apple's current lineup of desktop computers and notebooks. People familiar with the company's plans have indicated the new iMac will eventually receive a retooled IR remote that drops white plastic for an aluminum finish.

The new report's claims of an aluminum finish conflict with those of Mac4Ever, whose sources reported that the new mouse would retain the clear plastic shell of the existing Mighty Mouse, although with a more slender form factor.

In its annual list of wealthiest Americans known as the Forbes 400, Forbes magazine has ranked Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 43rd place with a net worth of approximately $5.1 billion. Despite a decline in net worth of approximately $600 million, Jobs moved up from last year's 61st spot to claim his highest ranking yet, topping his 49th place showing in 2007.

The report notes as Jobs' best investment his purchase of Pixar from George Lucas in 1986 for $10 million. With Disney's acquisition of Pixar in 2006, Jobs became the largest individual Disney stockholder with a stake currently worth $3.9 billion.

Jobs' $5.1 billion net worth marks a significant turnaround from just six months ago, when Jobs checked in as the 178th wealthiest person in the world with an estimated net worth of only $3.4 billion. Since that time, Disney's stock price has risen nearly 90% while Apple's has more than doubled, generating significant gains for Jobs.

Jobs has famously received only a $1 annual salary from Apple for over a decade, although he has received stock options and other benefits from the company, including a private jet for which he receives financial compensation when used for company business.

Despite a decline of $7 billion from last year's survey, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates remains at the top of the list for the 16th consecutive year with a net worth of approximately $50 billion.

AppleInsider reports on new details from Apple resellers noting that lead times for reseller orders through Apple have begun to slip for a number of models. The changes are led by the Mac mini, which is now showing shipping windows of 2-3 weeks for both stock models of the desktop computer. Apple's constrained supply of Mac mini models has even reached its direct-to-consumer sales channel, with the low-end Mac mini slipping to 1-3 business day shipping yesterday and the high-end model following suit today.

As reports of a forthcoming hardware refreshes continue to mount, Apple has braced its certified resellers for unusually long shipping times of two to three weeks for both models of its minute Mac mini desktop systems.

Both the low-end, 120GB hard drive Mac mini and the top-tier 320GB model now have a wait time of two to three weeks. Typically, the hardware ships in one to three business days for non-custom orders, people familiar with the online Apple Store for Resellers told AppleInsider.

Lead times for reseller orders for Apple's iMac, MacBook, and MacBook Pro have reportedly also slipped slightly in recent days to 3-5 business days, up from normal shipping dates of 1-3 business days. Both the iMac and MacBook have been expected to see refreshed models in the near future, but there has been little speculation surrounding a MacBook Pro update of any sort.

Online research firm Net Applications today released data charting the growth of Mac OS X Snow Leopard's operating system market share since its launch just over a month ago. The data suggests that approximately 1% of computer users are currently running Snow Leopard, meaning that about 18% of Mac users (which represent approximately 5% of computer users worldwide according to Net Applications' data) are currently running Snow Leopard.

On August 28th, Apple released Snow Leopard, which is version 10.6 of the Mac operating system. Since then, it has had rapid adoption. On the day of Sept. 29th, the global share of Snow Leopard was .91%, and the overall Mac share was 4.93%. This means 18.45% of Mac users have upgraded to Snow Leopard in just one month after its release.

Readers will note weekly cycles in Apple's market share showing an increase in share on weekends, presumably due to the dominance of Windows-based PCs in business settings during the work week contrasting with primarily home computer use on weekends.

Computerworld reveals that Apple quietly acquired mapping company Placebase back in July.

Placebase is similar to Google Maps in that it is a mapping service and has the world mapped out. You can zoom in and out and it has different layers you can superimpose over your mapping data.

Placebase CEO Jaron Waldman LinkedIn profile now listed his position as part of the "Geo Team" at Apple.

The obvious interest Apple would have in the company would be the mapping content and expertise that they are currently relying on Google for in their iPhone maps application. Placebase, however, also offered additional functionality that is not currently available in Google's offerings that Apple could theoretically take advantage of. This primarily involves the aggregating of different data sets onto maps. PolicyMap was given as an example of this aggregate functionality.

In its August 2009 Mobile Metrics Report released today, advertising firm AdMob highlights the fact that Apple's iPhone OS commanded a 40% share of ad requests on the company's network during the month, up from 33% six months earlier. The increase, when paired with a corresponding decrease in market share for Symbian OS, has moved the iPhone OS into the #1 spot for worldwide ad request market share.

The study also examined the top smartphone models for ad traffic, where the iPhone ranked first, followed by the HTC Dream. The Palm Pre ranked fourth among smartphones, and worldwide mobile phone leader Nokia held down 12 of the top 20 positions.

When all types of "handsets" are included, Apple's iPod touch grabs the second spot behind its iPhone sibling. While not a mobile phone, the iPod touch is included in the survey because it runs the iPhone OS and accesses the same content being served to smartphones and other handsets.

AdMob is the world's largest mobile advertising marketplace, serving ads for more than 9,000 mobile Web sites and 3,000 applications worldwide.

The shipping window for Apple's low-end Mac mini in the company's U.S. and Canadian online stores has slipped today to "1-3 business days" from the usual "Within 24hrs" timeframe, adding further hints of supply constraints and a possible refresh for Apple's diminutive desktop computer. The move comes on the heels of reports that Apple has notified its retail stores of shortages of the low-end Mac mini, as well as all four iMac configurations.

TUAW today also adds additional detail on desktop shortage claims, noting that an employee at one Apple retail store has reported only four iMacs in stock at that location, far below usual stock levels.

Several of our tipsters work for Apple Authorized re-sellers who are running very low on desktop supplies, even an Apple Store tip says they have 4 iMacs in stock. When I worked at the Apple Store, there were always 40+ iMacs in stock. Having 4 in a store is just unheard of -- unless there's something in the works.

Another source reports that they placed an order for a Mac mini earlier this month and initially received indication that the machine would ship in a timely manner, only to have the shipping date recently adjusted to October 9th.

Reports in recent weeks and months have suggested that iMac and MacBook updates are due in the near future, and while details on a potential Mac mini upgrade have been scarce, mounting evidence suggests that Apple has changes in store for the line of budget desktops as well.

Gizmodo reports on a number of different tips and tidbits it has received in recent months that together paint a picture of Apple's goals for its much-rumored tablet computer. Building on a report yesterday claiming that the new device will have a focus on translating print media to an electronic platform, Gizmodo cites sources claiming that Apple has talked to The New York Times and several textbook and magazine publishers about various aspects of moving their content into the digital realm.

Multiple sources associated with The New York Times reportedly claim that Apple approached the newspaper in June about translating its content for use on a "new device", an extension of the newspapers currently digital efforts on the iPhone and other platforms. On the textbook front, another source indicated several months ago that publishers McGraw Hill and Oberlin Press have been working to bring their content into the iTunes ecosystem, a concept that appears to be similar to that employed by CourseSmart with its eTextbook offerings for the iPhone and iPod touch.

Finally, Apple reportedly recently met with magazine executives to pitch its vision of the future of that industry, showing off mockups of interactive content as an early step in what have presumably been continued talks. Together, these claims suggest that Apple is aggressively pursuing a digital evolution of print media, with its tablet computer as a key element of the push.

Some I've talked to believe the initial content will be mere translations of text to tablet form. But while the idea of print on the Tablet is enticing, it's nothing the Kindle or any E-Ink device couldn't do. The eventual goal is to have publishers create hybridized content that draws from audio, video, interactive graphics in books, magazines and newspapers, where paper layouts would be static. And with release dates for Microsoft's Courier set to be quite far away and Kindle stuck with relatively static e-ink, it appears that Apple is moving towards a pole position in distribution of this next-generation print content. First, it'll get its feet wet with more basic repurposing of the stuff found on dead trees today.

The Loop notes that Apple has unveiled a redesigned Apps for Everything section of its web site devoted to iPhone and iPod touch applications featured by category. While the "Apps for Everything" listings have been around for a while, today's update nearly doubles the number of featured categories.

Once you discover the App Store, you'll see how applications can make your iPhone do just about anything. There are thousands of iPhone apps to choose from. Here are a few that will help you get the most out your iPhone, wherever you go.

Apple has recognized that the increasing number of applications in the App Store and the "race to the bottom" in pricing has made it difficult for high-quality applications to stand out from the crowd and gain notice among iPhone and iPod touch users. The company has taken a number of steps to address this issue, including the addition of keywords to App Store application descriptions to facilitate searching and new "top grossing" application lists to provide increased visibility for more expensive applications.

The inclusion of new categories on its Apps for Everything page, when combined with the Staff Picks feature of the Apps for iPhone page, provides additional incremental improvements in Apple tools for drawing to attention to worthwhile apps.